Fond du Lac Band to Spear Walleyes in Northeast Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa says it plans to exercise its treaty rights for the first time to spear walleyes on northeastern Minnesota lakes this spring.

Secretary-Treasurer Ferdinand Martineau Jr. says the tribe is working with the state to determine which lakes and set harvest quotas. He says they'll be smaller lakes in the 1854 treaty area, which covers most of northeastern Minnesota.

Martineau says 70 to 80 of his members have expressed interest in spearing walleyes this spring. He says one reason is the sharply lower quota on Lake Mille Lacs, where Fond du Lac members have fished in past years under an 1837 treaty. He says another reason is the 1854 treaty area is closer to home for the tribe, which is based in Cloquet.